Newsletter-528-March-2015

Number 528 _ MARCH 2015 Edited by Deirdre
Barrie

HADAS DIARY – LECTURE PROGRAMME 2015

Tuesday
10th March 2015

Archaeology: some
history, achievements and crises – going full circle? Lecture by Robin Densem. Robin
volunteered on various sites in an attempt to gain a BA degree in archae-ology
and history at Exeter University, 1970-1. In 1972 he began volunteering for the
Southwark Archaeological Excavation Committee, and was employed there in
1973. Study for an under-graduate degree from the Institute of
Archaeology, London (gained 1976) was followed by further employment with the
Southwark and Lambeth unit which became the Museum of London in 1983

as part of the
Department of Greater London Archaeology which in turn became the Museum of
London Archaeology Service in 1991. Robin had some success here before leaving
in 1999. He

then spent four years at
Compass Archaeology (2000-03). Robin worked for Birkbeck College

with Harvey Sheldon from
2005-2010, which included teaching on the Syon Abbey training excavation.
Since then he has been working as a field archaeologist. Robin taught
archaeology evening classes from 1977-2013, and hopes to provide lectures to
the Mill Hill Archaeology Study Society from late 2015.

Robin is the Hon
Treasurer of RESCUE: the British Archaeological Trust and has over forty years
seen various features of archaeology, including the roles of archaeological
societies, the origins and growth of archaeological units, the development of
the Institute for Archaeologists, the commer-cialisation of archaeology, and
the rise of community archaeology.

Tuesday 14
April 2015 Excavations by Pre-Construct
Archaeology at the

former Inglis Barracks – talk by Ian Cipin.

Tuesday 12
May 2015 Robert
Stephenson (CoLAS Member)

The Knights Templar and their London
Connections

Tuesday 9
June 2015 ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING

Tuesday 13
October 2015 Dr Caroline Cartwright

Scientific Methods in Archaeology

Tuesday 10 November 2015 The History of The Royal National
Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Speaker to be advised.

A Thank You for Lectures 2015 Jo
Nelhams

The programme of
lectures is now complete. Our thanks go to Stephen Brunning for all his work in
continuing to find our speakers each month. If any member has a suggestion for
an interesting speaker, whom you may have heard elsewhere, for the future, please
contact Stephen with details, as he is now working to find people for 2016.
(See end of newsletter for address etc.)

Also, may I thank all
those who have offered to write up the lectures for 2015. We have a full
complement, but if you would like to offer to be a reserve in case of illness,
please contact the Secretary, Jo Nelhams.

HADAS February 2015 lecture – an assorted
history of Singapore, featuring the Mill Hill connection and the Five Foot Way
- given by Rob Kayne, reported by Liz Gapp

Rob Kayne started the
lecture by showing several maps revealing the location of Singapore and its
neighbours. Comparison with the last map from 1800s showed that it has been
enlarged thanks to land reclamation instigated by Sir (Thomas) Stamford
(Bingley) Raffles.

He went on to show
how the station names used for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system reveal the
history of all the people who built Singapore. Dhoby Ghaut was the place where
laundry was done by the river (Dhoby = washing; Ghaut=steps beside the river).
The Indian words reveal the Indian heritage of those who did the laundry.
Queenstown was named after Queen Elizabeth II, denoting the English connection;
Ang Mo Kio means Red Hair Bridge, named by Hokkien speakers, (Red Man is the
local term for a Caucasian); Toa Payoh means big swamp, a reminder that the
area was marshy; Aljunied was named after a man from Sumatra; Dakota indicates
where the former Kallang airport was; Mountbatten, commemorates Mountbatten
presenting the Union Jack to the people of Singapore in 1946.

Singapore has three
significant dates in its history: the first was 700 years ago mentioned in a Chinese
account, before the name Singapore was given to the area; the second was in
1819, when modern Singapore was founded; the third was its creation as a
republic 50 years ago, which today is being commemorated by red dots with SG
and 50 in the red dot (SG on top, 50 underneath). Singapore’s nickname is
Little Red Dot.

Singapore was
previously known as Temasek. It was renamed Singapura (Lion City), possibly as
a result of conquest by a Srivijaya prince. A wall on the North boundary was
built in the past to protect Bukit Langaran (Forbidden Hill), believed to be
the graveyard of the old dead kings. The Singapore river protected the other
boundaries of this area. Excavations here have shown evidence of 14th century
royal burials together with jewellery, figurines and pottery. Ceramics found in
the river indicate trade with China from 13th century onwards.

We were then taken on
a virtual tour of the Singapore museum, starting with the poster which commemorates 700 years of habitation,
showing us images of the various galleries and focusing on the gold centrepiece
of a 13th or 14th century necklace which shows a lion’s head, a possible
allusion to Singapore. There is also a lot of 12th, 13th
and 14th century pottery.

Of particular
interest is a fragment of a very large stone called the Singapore stone, found
in 1819 at the mouth of the Singapore River. This stone was originally 9ft
across and had writing inscribed on it, which it is felt could have revealed a
wealth of regional and local history. Unfortunately, although many people of
different cultures claimed it was in their script, nobody successfully
deciphered it, and in 1843 the East India Company decided to blow it up so that
the area could be used for further building development. Afterwards a few fragments of the stone were
collected and one now remains in the Singapore museum.

In 1611 Singapore was
destroyed by fire which left only a small town of 1000, of mostly Malay and a
few Chinese inhabitants.

The speaker then told
of Sir Stamford Raffles, describing his birth on a boat and his rapid rise from
a poor background to the position of Lieutenant Governor of Bencoolen. This was
too obscure, remote and small for his ambitions, thus the start of his
connection to Singapore was explained. . Following a visit to Lord Hastings,
then Governor General of Bengal in Calcutta, Sir Stamford Raffles and William
Farquhar landed on Singapore on 29th Jan 1819, having sailed there separately.

On 7 Feb 1819 Sir
Stamford Bingley Raffles left Singapore, having the day before signed a treaty
on behalf of the East India Company (EIC) with the Temengong (local leader) and
the Sultan of Johor. The treaty allowed the EIC to establish a trading post in
return for payment of an annual rent and protection from the Dutch. The treaty
declaration document can now be seen in the Singapore museum.

Raffles left Farquhar
on Singapore as Resident, visiting twice more, when he consolidated the EIC’s
position, expanding its interests to “possession” of the whole island except
the residences of the Temengong and the Sultan.

Growth of the island
was rapid due to its prime position on trade routes, its sheltered anchorage,
the river basin allowing easy offloading from smaller boats, its supplies of
drinking water and the port’s policy of no duties payable. In 1822, the
population was 5,000 with a turnover of 8 million Spanish dollars. A year later
the population had doubled to 10,000, and the turnover was 8.6 million Spanish
dollars. Land reclamation began during
Raffles’ visits, and the city’s functional areas were defined and declared in
his Jackson Plan of 1822.

One of the building
innovations instigated by Raffles was a covered pathway system that runs in
front of the houses alongside the road. This provides shelter from the weather,
particularly the heavy rain, and is known as the Five Foot Way, still in use
today. Several images of the differing parts of this were shown, each
displaying characteristics of the local residents.

On 9 June 1823,
Raffles returned to Bencoolen to prepare to return to England due to increasing
ill-health epitomised by increasing frequency of serious headaches. He never
returned to Singapore.

Raffles hired a ship
called the “Fame” from Bencoolen to go to England. The ship left on 2 Feb 1824,
laden with 30 tons of his life’s work – Malay literary collections, sketches
and maps, artefacts, animals (live and stuffed) and his own extensive written
records, plus a commercial consignment of gunpowder. On its first night at sea
the ship caught fire, exploded and sank but with no loss of life.

Raffles returned to
Bencoolen. After two months, having assembled a new, albeit smaller,
collection, he returned to London and purchased a house and farmland in Mill
Hill. The freehold included a public house, the “Rising Sun”. His neighbour and
good friend was William Wilberforce.

Singapore became a
Crown Colony after the dissolution of the East India Company, and its growth
continued to attract immigrants from China’s coastal regions and India. The
island was invaded by Japan in 1942 and renamed Syonan To (Southern Light). It
returned to British occupation at the end of the war, and began to achieve
self-governing status from 1948 onwards, though defence and foreign policy
remained matters for the UK to decide. Following a UN Resolution in 1962, a
referendum resulted in Singapore becoming a member of the Malaysian Federation
until its ejection in 1965, when it became an independent republic.

The 1950s and 1960s
saw a transition from kampong (village life) to modern suburban dwellings and
social infrastructures. Various images of this transformation were shown.

Singapore’s four
official languages are English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, with additional
languages and dialects spoken by its many immigrants and their descendants. As
a result of cultural mixing and cross-influences, a further dialect “Singlish”
is widely spoken despite its lack of official status.

The Bothy at Stephens
House, East End Road, Finchley, has been awarded a grant of more than a million
pounds by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The charity Terapia (www.terapia.co.uk), based at Watford Way, Hendon, plans
to use the Bothy as a centre providing free mental health services to children
and teenagers. The Grade II Listed building had been placed on English
Heritage’s “At Risk” register, but now work on it is due to begin early in 2016.
Remedial work to the structure is to be carried out soon.

There is a downside
to the good news. Terapia will receive the £1,012,000 grant if it is able to
raise another £900,000 on its own. Bozena Merrick, Clinical Director and Chief
Executive of Terapia, is confident that they can reach that extra figure.
Already The Bothy Charity Shop in High Street North Finchley is raising money
towards the extra funds.

Bozena Merrick said,
“It’s going to make a huge difference to have an accessible service for children
and teenagers right in the heart of Barnet.”

Ben Greener, the
Heritage Lottery Fund’s Historic Advisor, said “Historic buildings are
inspirational spaces and our research shows they are the very places where
enterprise thrives.

“However, once they
have fallen out of use, the high cost of restoration makes them commercially
unattractive and they become at risk of spiralling into decline. With Heritage
Enterprise, HLF is stepping in – making them fit for purpose, attractive for
investment, and secure for the future.”

Note: for those
unfamiliar with the Bothy in Stephens House gardens, it is not the small,
unlocked mountain shelter the name suggests, but looks a little like a small
castle. Built in 1882, it is a large square-shaped walled garden, including
what was the park keeper’s house, and has rendered battlements and
buttressed walls. Its quaint Moorish exterior is to be altered as little as
possible.

Friday 17th April, 2pm. The Gods and Goddesses of Londinium
– a two-hour walk, starting from the Refectory at Southwark Cathedral (near
the riverside, nearest tube London Bridge) will look at sites around the Roman
Forum and those associated with the London Mithraeum, finishing up at the Roman
Gallery of the Museum of London. Led by Mike Howgate, cost £8. To book, please
send a cheque made out to Mike Howgate to: M.E. Howgate, 71 Hoppers Road,
Winchmore Hill, London N21 3LP

Wednesday 22nd April 6pm. Gresham College at Museum of London, 150 London
Wall, EC2Y 5HN. Restoration and Reaction: Palaces of the Restoration. Talk
by Simon Thurley (CEO of English Heritage) on their architectural innovation.
Free.